1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable table, which is easy, convenient, and safe to fold and unfold, and which is strong, durable, and safe to use. Particularly, the present invention relates to a foldable table having an automatic button-latching and button-releasing system, an automatic leg-centering system, and an automatic collapse-preventing system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of foldable and collapsible tables and frames have been introduced. U.S. Pat. No. 2,618,524, filed Nov. 30, 1949, to C. Hoffmann; U.S. Pat. No. 3,646,895, filed Sep. 2, 1970, to Richard B. Campbell; U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,606, filed Jan. 2, 1979, to Hollis C. Hodson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,803, filed Nov. 30, 1992, to Tabata; U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,273, filed Mar. 14, 1994, to Yuan-Hsiung Lin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,510, filed Dec. 23, 1993, to Louis Wey; U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,259, filed Jun. 21, 1996, to Kao-San Chen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,127, filed Mar. 24, 1998, to Mark C. Carter; U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,566, filed Jul. 2, 1997, to Kao-San Chen; U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,751, filed Dec. 31, 1998, to Ming-Liang Tsai; U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,894, filed Mar. 18, 1998, to Kao-San Chen; U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,338, filed Aug. 23, 1999, to Chin-Chung Yeh; U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,769, filed Aug. 4, 1999, to Ting-sheng Tsai; U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,361, filed Apr. 30, 1999, to Edward Zheng; U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,308, filed Aug. 3, 1999, to Joo-Hwan Hwang; U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,489, filed Jan. 7, 2000, to Ting-Sheng Tsai; U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,089, filed Jun. 29, 1999, to Edward Zheng; U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,045, filed Jan. 24, 2000, to Satoshi Izumi; U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,565, filed Mar. 28, 2000, to Choi Sang Byung; U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,422, filed Dec. 18, 2000, to Edward Zheng; U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,730, filed Dec. 6, 2001, to Ming-Liang Tsai; U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,293, filed Sep. 26, 2002, to Yu-Shu Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,834, filed Feb. 7, 2003, to John A. Pehta; U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,230, filed Oct. 17, 2003, to Ming-Liang Tsai; U.S. Pat. No. 6,997,111, filed Oct. 31, 2003, to Paul Giegerich; U.S. Pat. No. 7,543,614, filed Mar. 13, 2007, to Robert W. Wise; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,604,289, filed Dec. 4, 2007, to Libin Chen disclose a variety of inventions related to foldable and collapsible tables and frames. The prior art has failed to solve many problems associated with such foldable and collapsible tables and frames, as follows:
No prior art offers or discloses any foldable table having automatic button-latching and button-releasing system, automatic leg-centering system, and automatic collapse-preventing system.
No prior art offers or discloses any automatic button-latching and button-releasing system. As a result, no prior-art table can be automatically activated to fold with a simple push of each of the release buttons of the table.
No prior art offers or discloses any automatic button-latching and button-releasing system. As a result, instead of an easy, one-handed operation, all the prior-art foldable tables require a cumbersome, two-handed operation to be folded.
To unlock each locking sleeve of the prior-art tables to fold them up, all the prior art requires two simultaneous actions of: a) Pressing the release button of one locking sleeve with one hand, and b) At the same time, pressing the frame of the table downwards with another hand, to stretch the frame to keep the locking sleeve in an “unlocking position”.
All prior art requires the need to stretch the frames of the tables to unlock the tables each time the tables are folded. This results in quickly weakening the structural strength of and quickly shortening the service lifespan of the frames of the tables over time.
No prior art offers or discloses any automatic leg-centering system to automatically prevent the extendable-leg assemblies of all prior art from wobbling. As a result, the extendable-leg assemblies of all prior art wobble and quickly weaken the structural strength of and quickly shorten the service lifespan of the frames of the tables over time.
No prior art offers or discloses any automatic collapse-preventing system to strengthen the entire structure of the tables while in use. As a result, all prior art has experienced a decreased tolerance and durability of the structure of the tables as well as a shortened lifespan thereof.
No prior art offers or discloses any automatic collapse-preventing system to automatically cross-interlock the removable tabletop and all the extendable-leg assemblies of the tables to prevent the tables from folding inwards and, thus, collapsing. As a result, the prior-art tables are susceptible to accidental collapse and, thus, to the risk of personal injury.
In this respect, the unique foldable table of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides a unique apparatus, which has an automatic button-latching and button-releasing system, an automatic leg-centering system, and an automatic collapse-preventing system, which can:    (a) Automatically latch the release buttons of the table,    (b) Automatically release the release buttons of the table,    (c) Simplify a cumbersome, two-handed operation into an easy, one-handed operation,    (d) Eliminate the needs for stretching the frame of the table while unlocking the table to offer ease of use, durability, and safety,    (e) Automatically center and clamp the extendable-leg assemblies of the table to prevent the extendable-leg assemblies from wobbling,    (f) Automatically cross-interlock the removable tabletop and the frame of the table to prevent the frame from accidentally folding inwards and collapsing and, thus, to prevent the risk of personal injury, and    (g) Secure the removable tabletop of the table onto the frame of the table to prevent the frame from twisting and stretching while in use to strengthen the whole structure of the table while in use for substantially higher degrees of tolerance and durability.
Therefore, there exists a continuing need for a new, improved, easy-to-operate, and safe foldable table. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.